Panama disease threaten global banana industry of $36 bn

Without the global efforts to deal with the "Panama Disease", one of the most destructive infections of bananas in the world, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned that the global fruits industry worth of $36 billion is under threat. More than 400 million people in the world who depend on the fruit, either as a source of income or as a food, can be affected by the infection.

 

FAO and its partners informed that they need $47 million to deal with the "Panama disease", caused a fungus that affect primarily bananas. The founding will be used to bring rapid assistance to those countries that face new outbreaks.

 

"Banana is the most consumed and exported fruit in the world," said the disease expert of the Plant Protection Division at FAO, Fazil Dusunceli. "With 85% of bananas in the world being produced for domestic consumption, imagine the disease impact over food safety and the livelihood in developing nations," he added.

 

The "Panama disease" already impeded exports of over 100,000 tons of bananas in Indonesia yearly, causing annual losses of nearly $132 million in revenue in the Sumatra island alone. Besides Asia, the infection now threats Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.